Washington, DC — In response to the news that FEMA is reassigning employees to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Setareh Ghandehari, Advocacy Director of Detention Watch Network issued the following statement:
“It is despicable that during hurricane season and amidst historic flash floods that have devastated the country, sweeping away kids from their camps, homes, and loved ones, that Trump’s Department of Homeland Security would force FEMA employees to abandon that critical work in order to carry out the administration’s mass detention and deportation agenda. This agenda is driven by a racist compulsion, and Trump and Stephen Miller will stop at nothing to see it through, including jeopardizing the safety and well-being of everyone in this country. This news, following last week’s reporting that DHS has greenlit $600 million for FEMA to detain people, makes clear that Trump does not care about flood recovery efforts in Texas or preparing for the likelihood of forthcoming hurricanes. Rather the administration wants to target, arrest, detain, and deport people at all costs. This infusion of funding for ICE detention under FEMA is reportedly funneled through the ’Shelter & Services Program,’ a deceptive workaround to access money that was originally created under the Biden Administration to fund nonprofits providing shelter and services to newly arriving migrants. The depravity of this administration knows no end. This moment warrants a national outcry. Everyone must ring the alarm – starting with our elected leaders. We all deserve to feel prepared, ready, and safe from natural disasters and reassured that critical government services - funded by our tax dollars - will be there to support our communities when disaster strikes.”
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Detention Watch Network (DWN) is a national coalition building power through collective advocacy, grassroots organizing, and strategic communications to abolish immigration detention in the United States.